Outside Time

What I mostly did today was to weed in the garden and plant the rattlesnake beans. The weather was so beautiful that it would have been a sin to be inside and it is time to get my beans in the ground. I want to can even more jars of them this summer than last because it is so lovely when I just have run out of vegetable ideas to open a jar, pour them into a pan, season them, and heat them up. I often add onions to them and sometimes I even make homemade green bean casserole with them and that is delicious too. 

So I cleared that long fence row which took a few hours, believe it or not. I try to get even the tiniest little sprouts of leaves and both of the predominant weeds that grow in that space are once again plants with long runner roots: betony and dollar weed. Mr. Moon needs to get out there and mow on the other side of the fence so that all of my work is not undone in a week or so. 

I also planted some more arugula seeds in one of the canvas planting bags we experimented with last year. I so hope they come up and thrive and do not go to seed immediately. 

I pulled my row of Chinese cabbage that had become completely flowered out and something else will go in there soon. Perhaps bush cucumbers which I've never tried before. We have had lousy luck with cucumbers here which is such a disappointment. Who doesn't love cucumbers and who doesn't love pickles made from them? Dill or sweet, they are both delicious. Glen's planted at least eight tomatoes and four peppers. I also have more tomatoes sprouting but by the time they're ready to into the ground, it will probably be so late that the heat and bugs will destroy them or at least keep them from thriving and producing in any sort of quantity. 

My little babies. 

I watered the porch plants and got all of the rest of the plants that were inside back outside. I really don't think it's going to freeze here again this year. I have plants to repot and that always reminds me of the hermit crab shell-swaps. I take one plant and put it in a bigger pot and then another plant from a small pot goes into the one I just took the other plant out of and so on and so forth down the line. It's never just ONE plant. Two of my most beloved plants on the front porch are not looking good. I had hoped that the damage the freezes had done on them, although severe was not deadly but I am seeing no signs of new growth on either of them. But it is not time to give up on them yet. Not at all. it could take months. I need to wash and dry all of the old sheets and blankets I used as covers for the plants during the cold weather and put them away.

I am not going to lie to you- today was a bit difficult for me. The offer on the house was accepted and so the purchase of it is even more real now. There is first the all-important inspection. I really can't see that anything major is going to come up. We know the roof is going to need replacing before too long and have already discussed replacing it with a green metal roof. I think that would be nice although yes, it would resemble a Lincoln Log house but who hasn't wanted a Lincoln Log Cabin? 

So yeah, it's not metal but use your imagination. 

Damn. I buried the lede, I think! I already got my mammogram results back and I appear to be cancer free in the bosomular area. The report also noted that it can be harder to detect cancer in breasts with dense tissue but I don't have dense tissue. 
Okay. Good to know. 

So that is done for now. 

I checked for any sprouting bamboo this morning but haven't seen any yet. This does not mean it's not there. There are many other signs of new growth though. The bridal leaf spirea is covered in tiny white still-closed buds and the tea olive is losing its mind with joy. I have some bromeliads in the front yard that used to be planted in a tree stump which over the years has collapsed but the bromeliads are still alive and doing okay. Today I saw this. 

Now wouldn't you have just sworn that plant was dead? Guess it's not. And see those blurry green plants up there in approximately the 11:00 position? Those are baby spider plants which have grown from a mama that I nestled in the old tree stump some years ago. So now we know- spider plants are not doomed if they are frozen or even snowed on. 

And here is miniature bouquet I've made from the tiniest of wildflowers in the yard. 

This time change has gotten me so confused. I just now realized what time it is and I really have to go make supper. 

I have not discussed the crumbling of our country, our rights, our freedoms, our constitution, and our economy in a day or two but trust me when I say that I am paying attention and every day it seems that things have sunk to a new level of horror. 

Deep breath. 

Love...Ms. Moon